Apparatus for breaking diamonds.



J. F. LINDBERG.

APPARATUS'FOR BREAKING DIAMONDS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 25, 1912.

Patented May 19, 1914.

ZSHEETS-BHEET l.

@wuc/wtoz J. F. LINDBBRG.

APPARATUS FOR BREAKING DIAMONDS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 25, 1012.

1,096,849. Patented May 19, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- JOHN F. LINDBEBG, 0F HIBBING, MINNESOTA.

APPARATUS FOR BREAKING DIAMONDS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. LINDBERG, citizen of the United States, residing at Hibbing, in the county of St. Louis and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Breaking Diamonds, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the art of splitting diamonds or other hard substances, and has for its object improved means whereby the diamonds or other substances to be split will be broken or cut evenly without splintering, and loss of particles prevented.

The invention seeks to attain the desired object with certainty and rapidity by means which may be easily operated and will need few repairs.

Broadly stated the invention consists in employing cutters having a cutting edge of the same configuration as the outline of the body to be out along the line of desired cleavage and disposing these cutters at opposite sides of the body and at opposite sides of the plane in which the body is to be divided so that upon pressure being applied to the cutters the body will be split and a clean cut produced.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated what I now consider the best means of carrying out the invention, and the said means and the method of operation will be hereinafter fully described, the novel features of the invention being subsequently pointed out in the claims following the description.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a hydraulic press employed in the practice of my invention showing a nugget or body in position therein to obtain an impression of the outline of the body. Fig. 2 is a sectional view illustrating a nugget disposed between two blank which have been forced thereagainst in, opposite directions to obtain a matrix which will define the exact outline of the body along the line upon which it is desired to cut the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the matrix or pattern thus obtained clamped to a blank from which the cutter is to be formed. Fig. t is a view in perspective showing the members of the holder or clamp by which the cutters are supported separated but in their proper relative positions. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the same Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 25, 1912.

Patented May 19, 1914.

Serial No. 693,061.

parts assembled as a complete holder. Figs. (3 and 7 are perspective views showing respectively a blank and the lower cutter formed therefrom, and a blank and the upper cutter formed from the same. Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view showing the cuttors in their relative assembled positions. Fig. 9 is a detail perspective view showing the nugget or body to be cut in position within the holder and showing a jackscrew, or other support, fitted thereto. Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the retaining box.

In practising my invention, I employ a holder or clamp consisting of a back member 1, an intermediate member 2, and a front member The back member 1 is a block having a transverse opening l therethrough and provided in one side face with a longitudinal groove or channel 5 passing across the lower portion of the transverse opening l, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The intermediate member 2 is a U-shaped body having the upper surface of its base recessed as shown at 6, and the front member is a plate or block having a central transverse opening 7 and provided with a thumb screw 8 above the said opening. A plurality of openings 9 are formed through the said plate or block 3 along the edges of the same and are adapted to register with similar openings 10 in the intermediate member and openings 11 in the back member whereby suitable fastening screws or bolts 12 may be inserted through the several members to se cure them in their operative relation as shown in Fig. 5. Vhen the parts are thus assembled, it will be noted that the intermediate member fits against the back member so as to close the side of the groove or channel 5 therein, and the space between the side arms or posts of the intermediate member is bridged by both the back and front members whereby an opening 13 is formed to permit the insertion of the upper cutter and filling blocks. The members 1, 2 and 3 being thus assembled when, it is desired to cut a diamond or other hard nugget or body, a blank of lead or other soft metal, and having the same outline as the cutter blank 1 1 shown in Fig. 6, is slipped or pushed into and through the channel or groove 5 so as to fill the same and have its hollowed-out portion uppermost with the beveled face of the same extending away from the member 2. This arrangement will be readily understood on reference to Fig. 2 in which 15 designates the soft metal blank and 16 the flared or beveled portion of the same. The nugget or diamond is indicated by 17, and it will be readily understood that the nugget is inserted endwise through the opening 4 so as to rest upon the upper edge of the blank 15, after which a. blank 18 having the same configuration as the cutter blank 19, shown in Fig. 7 is dropped through the opening 13 so that the reduced portion of its lower edge will rest upon the nugget. Filling blocks 20 are then dropped through the opening 13 so as to rest upon the blank 18 and project above the holder, as shown in Figs. 1 and 9, after which the holder with the nugget and the blanks therein is placed between the upper and lower jaws 21 and 22 of a press, and sufficient pressure exerted upon the aws to force the dies firmly against the nugget so that the nugget will compress the edges of the dies and cause the same to fit snugly and closely around the nugget, consequently taking an accurate detailed impression of the surface of the nugget where they are in contact with the same. The pressure is then released, the holder with parts therein removed from the press, and the nugget, the filling blocks and the matrices produced by the pressure of the nugget against the dies 15 and 18 also removed from the holder. The roughened edges formed by the compression of the dies are now carefully filed off, after which the matrices or compressed dies are secured against hard steel cutter blanks shown at 14: and 19 by means of clamps or similar devices 23, as shown in Fig. 3, with the beveled portion 24: of the cutter blanks extending away from the upper or compressed edges of the matrices. The portion 25 of the cutter blanks thus left exposed is now carefully out or ground away by narrow or round edge grinding wheels so that a cutting edge will be formed on the cutter blank having exactly the same outline as the matrix to which the said cutter blank is clamped. The parts are now assembled in the manner before described substituting the hard steel cutters for the soft metal dies previously employed and turning the nugget end for end but keeping the upper and lower sides in the same relative positions as before. The holder, with the filling blocks and other parts therein, is then placed within the retaining box 26 and the rotary plate 27 in the top of said box is turned until the slot 20 therein will fit over the projecting filling block 28, after which the said retaining box is placed between the jaws of the press and the members operated to apply pressure to the cutters and through the same to the stone or nugget so as to split the same.

By reference to Fig. 2 it will be observed that pressure applied to the cutters is not neutralized by being applied along directly opposing lines,'but the cutters are disposed at opposite sides of the nugget and at opposite sides of the line of cleavage so that a tering of the same is avoided so that there is no scale formed in the out and no splintering of the nugget occurs. It will also be readily notedthat I obtain a perfect matrix or impression of the nugget before attempting to cut the same and then shape the cut-- ters to the nugget so that when the cutters are in operative engagement with the nugget they will fit snugly against and around the same so that slipping of the nugget in the jaws cannot occur and the cutting force is applied around the entire line of cleavage instead of being applied merely at isolated or diametrically opposite points.

It may be sometimes found desirable to provide an additional support for the nugget while the same is being split and especially when it is desired to break off an end of the same. For this purpose I may employ the device shown in Fig. 9 in which a bracket or spider 29 consisting of a central body 30 and arms 31 diverging axially from the said body is fitted againstthe side of the back member 1 of the holder. The extremities of the arms 31 are enlarged so as to form bases 32 adapted to bear squarely against the block 1, and the said bases are formed with open ended slots or notches 33 adapted to engage screws or headed studs 34, 011 the said block 1 as shown. When it is desired to detach thebracket, a slight turn imparted thereto will move the bases 32 from under the heads of the said studs or screws and out of engagement with the shanks of the same so as to instantly release the bracket or spider, as will be readily understood. A screw or threaded jack 35 is engaged in the threaded bore of the body 30 and provided at its outer end with a metal head. 36 while at its inner end it carries a cup 37 adapted to bear against the nugget. The cup 37 may be of any desired size, and the invention contemplates the provision of a plurality of cups of various sizes which may be interchangeably fitted upon the end of the screw.

The retaining box 26 is made of some@ stout material and its sides are glazed as indicated at 37, so that the progress of the operation may be observed and the exact moment when the nugget breaks known, and, consequently, the pressure released instantly. The box has a flat bottom and the filling blocks placed in the holder above the nugget should be employed in such number as to engage and project through the slot 28 in the cover of the box so that the pressure will be applied to the said filling blocks and the bottom of the holder which rests directly upon the bottom of the box. The break in the nugget usually occurs with considerable force and the separated pieces of the nugget would be apt to fly oil? to some distance and be lost so that the use of the retaining box or some equivalent of the same is important.

It is necessary to apply considerable force to the jaws 21 and 22 in order to accomplish the division of the diamond or other nugget, and to this end the said jaws form part of a press, the jaw 21 being carried by a cap 45 and the jaw 22 being fitted on the upper end of a piston 38 which is raised through the action of a liquid forced from the reservoir 41 through suitable passages in the base of the press and entering below the piston by a pump 65. After the nugget has been divided, the liquid is permitted to drain back into the reservoir 41 by manipulating suitable valves so that the same motor or pres sure fluid may be repeatedly used. By employing a fluid-operated press, the splitting force may be very easily and quickly controlled so that the division of the nugget will be accomplished without loss.

Having described the invention what is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for dividing hard bodies comprising a cutter holder having an axial opening therethrough to receive and support the body to be divided and having a cutter seat extending across the base of said opening, the holder being further provided with a cutter-receiving compartment above and communicating with the said opening, a cutter held in said seat, a second cutter mounted in and guided by said compartment, the cut ting edges of said cutters being opposed to each other and disposed in the same trans verse plane of the cutter holder with the bodies of the cutters at opposite sides of said plane, and means for moving the cutter in the compartment toward the cutter in the seat.

2. An apparatus for dividing hard bodies comprising a member having a body-receiving opening and a cutter seat adjacent said opening, a cutter in said seat, a second member fitted against the first-mentioned member and holding said cutterto its seat and adapted to pass around the body to be divided, a cutter mounted in the second member in opposition to the first-mentioned cutter, a retaining member fitted against the second member to retain the cutter therein, and means for securing the members together.

3. In an apparatus for dlviding hard bodies, a cutter holder consisting of a plurality of members rigidly secured together side by side and having registering axial openings to receive and support the body to be divided, one of said members having a cutter holding channel formed therein intersecting and extending across the base of the said body receiving opening, and another 01 said members being shaped to permit the insertion of a co-aeting cutter to rest upon the body to be divided.

- l. In an apparatus for dividing hard bodies, a cutter holder consisting of a member having a tunsverse body receiving opening therethrough and provided in its inner face with a cutter receiving channel intersecting the base of the said body receiving opening, a U-shaped member fitting against the first-mentioned member over the said cutter receiving channel, a retaining member fitting against the said U-shaped member and having a transverse opening therethrough to accommodate the body to be divided, a cutter fitted in the channel of the first-mentioned member, a second cutter inserted between the sides of the U-shaped member, and means -tor securing the said members together.

5. In an apparatus for dividing hard bodies, the combination of a member having an opening therethrough to receive the body to be divided and having a channel formed in one face intersecting the lower portion of said opening, an open top member fitting against the first-mentioned member and bridging the channel therein, a retaining member fitting against the open top member and having an opening therethrough to accommodate the body to be divided, a cutter fitted in the channel in the first-mentioned member, a second cutter fitted in the open top member, filling blocks disposed over the second cutter, means for securing the several members together, and means for securing the filling blocks and the cutters.

6. In an apparatus for dividing hard bodies, the combination of a member having an openin therethrough to receive the body to be divided and having a channel formed in one face intersecting the lower portion of said opening, an open top member fitting against the first-mentioned member and bridging the channel therein, a retaining member fitting against the open top member and having an opening therethrough to ac commodate the body to be divided, a cutter fitted in the channel in the first-mentioned member, a second cutter fitted in the open top member, means for securing the several members together, and means for securing the cutters within the members.

7. In an apparatus for dividing hard bodies, the combination of a member having an opening therethrough to receive the body to be divided and having a channel formed in one face intersecting the lower portion of said opening, an open top member fitting against the first-mentioned member and bridging the channel therein, a retaining member fitting against the open top member and having an opening therethrough to ac commodate the body to be divided, a cutter fitted in the channel in the first-mentioned member, a second cutter fitted in the open top member, means for securing the several members, means for securing the cutters W1th1n the members, and a support for the body to be divided mounted on one of the members;

8. In an apparatus for dividing hard bodies, the combination of a plurality of members arranged side by side, opposed eutters supported by and Within some of'said members, means for securing the members together, and a support for the body to be divided detaehably mounted upon one of the members.

9. In an apparatus for dividing hard bodies, the combination of a plurality of members constructed to receive the body to be divided, means for securing the members together opposed cutters held by and Within the said members, a bracket detachably mounted upon the exterior of one of the members, and a support mounted in said bracket and movable therethrough to and from said member 'ing from said holding means through said inclosing means.

11. An apparatusfor dividing hard bodies comprising a retaining box, a cutter holder adapted to fit Withmthe said box, a pair of opposed cutters fitted Within the said holder 7 and adapted to fit snugly around the body to be divided, and members bearing upon one of the cutters and extending from the holder and through a side of the boX.

In testimony whereof I my signature in presence of tWo Witnesses.

JOHN F. LINDBERG.

Witnesses GLADYs Roenns, ELLEN J. EKSTROM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G. 

